Clasp



Aug. 20, 1940.

J. B. FREYSINGER CLASP Filed April 5, 1939 Q/CHNE EQEYJ/NGER Patented Aug. 29, 194-9 wen YATEN E Application April 5, 1939, Serial Nat-$6,884

The presentinvention relates to clasps and more particularly to a suspender clasp.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved suspender clasp of the type having cooperating jaws adapted to spring open and a cooperating lever associated therewith for moving the jaws to closed position, and wherein the parts thereof are so constructed that they provide a relatively small clasp which is rugged in construction, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and efficient in operation.

Other objects Will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure 1 is a front view of a clasp embodying the invention herein;

Fig. 2 is a side View of Fig. 1 with! the clasp in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. 1 with the clasp in open position;

Fig. 4 is a view on the line L-fil of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a View on the line 5-5 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is a view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the clasp, which, for purposes of clear illustration, has been enlarged to approximately twice its normal size, comprises generally a one-piece metal blank preformed, as by stamping, to provide relatively narrow tongues [2 intermediate of its ends, upon which the blank is folded to properly align symmetrical front and rear loop portions I l and I6 and front and rear jaw members l8 and 2t.

The material of the blank is purposely cut away intermediate of the tongues IE to provide aligned relatively weak points, whereby when the blank is folded the loop portions and jaws will be positioned in proper cooperating relationship. Moreover, the metal used for the blank is such that when bent upon itself it has a slight tendency to spring; shown, whereby tongues l2, in effect, function as spring hinges normally acting to move jaws l8 and 2G to open position.

Inasmuch as the angle of movement adjacent tongues G2, to obtain a sufficient opening of the jaws to enable a piece of cloth to be readily inserted therebetween, is relatively small (see Fig. 3, the material from which the blank is made this feature being utilized in the clasp does not need to be particularly resilient, thereby allowing the use of relatively heavy metal and assuring a Strong clasp.

The relatively small movement adjacent the tongues i2 likewise permits the formation of the fabric-receiving loop portions M and I6 integral with the jaws as the fabric passing therethrough will not be subjected to excessive rubbing by the relative movement of the loop portions. To further eliminate excessive wear, the loop portions 10 in the stamping out operations are given a concave curvature, whereupon when they are folded alignment the upper transverse bar 22 thereof is substantially circular in cross section and the lower half thereof (see Fig. 4:) presents a half '5 round surface over which the suspender strap passes. a

The clasp is further strengthened by providing the face plate 24 of rear jaw with forwardly extending side flanges 26 and bottom 20 flange 28 and the face plate 30 of the front jaw H3 with rearwardly extending side flanges 32 and bottom flange 34, all of which are preformed in the blank, and, by using suitable dies, the interconnecting edges may all be slightly rounded, not only avoiding sharp edges but enhancing the appearance thereof. The bottom flanges 28 and 340i the jaw members extend slightly beyond the side flanges to serve as fabric-engaging gripping members.

In order to move the jaws to closed position, the side flanges 26 of the rear jaw 20 are provided intermediate the ends thereof with forwardly projecting ears 36 having aligned apertures 38 therein. The cars 36 provide a support for a jaw closing operating lever 40 having a camming portion 52 and handle portion 44 extending substantially at right angles to the camming portion. The'camming portion 40 is provided with laterally extending lugs or trunnions 40 36 spaced forwardly from the rear edge thereof a distance equal to the amount of movement of the lower ends of the jaws. The trunnions 46 are receivable within the aligned openings 38 of the supporting ears and thus pivotally sup- 5 port the lever 40 in operating relationship forwardly of the front jaw I8.

A particularly advantageous feature of the invention herein is that the ears 36 extend forwardly such a relatively short distance that the 50 outer ends thereof lie substantially in the normal plane of the face plate 30 of the front jaw I8 when the clasp is in closed position, as indicated by the line a, b of Fig. 2. To accomplish this, the front plate 30 of the front jaw is concavely offset towards the rear jaw member adjacent the ears 36. e The curvature of the offset, for a distance equal to the arc of movement of the rear edge 48 of the camming portion 42, is on a radius corresponding to the radius of the camming lever. Thus, upon operation of the operating lever, the jaws are free to move to their full open and closed position. As best seen in Fig. 4, when the jaws are in closed position, the rear edge 43 of the camming portion 42 engages the face plate 30 of the front jaw l8 slightly above the pivotal center of the camming portion, thus tending to lock the parts in closed position with the handle portion 44 in depending position abutting the face plate 30 of the jaw l8.

In order to enable full movement of the front jaw l8 and to compensate for the offset portion thereof, the face plate of the rear jaw 20 is provided with vertically extending channel ribs 52 adapted to receive the side flanges 32 of the front jaw member when in closed position. With the foregoing arrangement, it will be seen that due to offsetting the front jaw member, the length of the ears 36 may be materially reduced, while still obtaining maximum opening of the jaws, and the overall thickness of the clasp is only increased over that of the jaws when in closed position by the thickness of the operating lever 40. Likewise, the lower portions of the jaws when in closed position are still spaced a suflicient distance apart to provide a sufficient opening 54 therebetween to allow the pulling out of the fabric when it is gripped between the gripping flanges 28 and 34. Also, by providing a relatively long area over which the camming portion 42 engages the front jaw 38, sufficient leverage is obtained for closing the jaws tightly with little or no effort, even though the clasp be made out of relatively strong material.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also tobe understood that the language used in the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

A clasp comprising a one-piece metal blank folded intermediate of its ends to provide front and rear cooperating jaw members adapted to be moved to open position by the inherent spring of the metal, each of said jaw members having a face plate with reinforcing side flanges and a bottom flange extending towards the other member, said front jaw being narrower than said rear jaw whereby the side flanges thereof are movable between the flanges of the front jaw, said rear jaw having ears extending forwardly from said side flanges intermediate of its ends with the outer ends of said ears lying substantially in the plane of the face plate of the front jaw member, said front jaw having a portion adjacent said ear members offset from the normal plane thereof towards the rear jaw, a jaw closing lever pivotally mounted on said ears forwardly of said jaw member and adapted to move said jaw members to closed position, said face plate of the rear jaw member being provided with vertically extending channels in alignment With the flanges of said front jaw member adjacent the offset portion thereof for receiving the flanges of said front jaw member when said jaws are moved to closed position.

JOHN B. FREYSINGER. 

